Growing up the center should work for these, though you may need to tuck stems in, or alternatively wrap X's of fishing line or black wire between the lower several rings to keep the stems from escaping and flopping.

That's what I was thinking! Thanks for your help.

I'm growing Arabelle up the center of a obelisk and using the clips that I posted in a previous post to keep the vine growing up. They have reached the top now and have buds peeking out the top of the obelisk. Should be interesting to see what happens once they are higher than the obelisk. maybe I'll get the vines to wrap around or hang down.

Oh I'd love to see a picture if you have one!

Here is my Arabella. It will probably grow taller than my obelisk. The obelisk is only 4 feet and I plan on getting a taller one next year if needed. it has reached the top and started to send shoot out thru the sides.
I used plant clips to guide it up the obelisk and they worked really well.

Vine coming out the top of the obelisk.

That looks great!! This gives me lots of hope that mine will look pretty. :o) And those buds are gorgeous!

Since Clematis are often purchased in tiny pots and grow slowly the first couple years it is often hard to plan for mature size.

Arabella will outgrow that pot and obelisk!

Looks really nice now though :)

Yes I figured it will outgrow the pot and obelisk altho its is only suppose to be around 4-6 ft. I already have a much larger pot and it looking for a 6 ft obelisk.
It must be very hardy because I overwintered it in a smaller pot by the side of my shed. I did throw something over it but I was surprised at how quick it started to sprout when I brought it into the greenhouse.

That's wonderful that it overwintered in zone 5! I have wanted to grow clematis in pots but was afraid they wouldn't survive.

Many if not most, Clematis are hardy to zone 3

The evergreen ones and montanas aren't though.

Thought I would post an update on my rooguchis... I planted them in July right away and they grew a little bit but were pretty floppy.

I actually considered moving them this spring since they are right on either side of my front door and they looked kind of dumb just flopping everywhere last year. But they came springing up this year and are already about 1/2 way up the 7' obelisks and it's still April and they haven't been in the ground even a year.

The stems are much sturdier this go around. When they grew tall enough I clipped some of the stems but not all of them and the ones that aren't clipped don't seem to need it. I am very impressed with how quickly they've grown and how strong the stems are. I think I need darker plant clips though these white ones are kind of obvious. I can't wait for them to bloom.

Nice to know...I just bought one and I hoped to thread it through a Philadephus (mock-orange). They will both be in their infancy this year, so the mock orange won't immediately choke the life out of the clematis.

This is How big it was when it bloomed I don't think it'll get choked out!

I really like growing clematis up into shrubs and have been growing them that way for several years. IME clematis and shrub pairings do best when they are paired well as to size, the shrub has relatively stiff branches, and the clematis has relatively long lengths between leaf nodes so that the clematis doesn't provide too much shade to the shrub. Rooguchi is a good choice as far as internodal length, and it isn't so large that it will smother your mock orange. However, I don't think that the mock orange will be a great choice for clematis support because it has quite flexible branches, so either the weight of the clematis pulls the shrub out of shape, or when it's windy the branches move around too much, making Philadelphus an instable support. It might work if you give the clematis a short trellis such as the one Mae Taylor shows above so that the lower part of the plant has some support and stability. The other issue is that Philadelphus tends to sucker IME and so may get much wider than expected and overgrow the clematis.

I've found that spicebush/Lindera benzoin with its flexible branches doesn't work well, and Physocarpus/ninebark only works for a relatively light clematis in an area sheltered from wind.

Some shrubs that have worked successfully:

Hydrangea paniculatas 'Quickfire' (shown below with C. 'Little Bas') and H. paniculata 'Pinky Winky', both of which have stiffer branches than some H. p. selections.

Thuja 'Sunkist' with C. 'Fascination' has more rigidity to its branches than many Thuja

Lilac (Syringa x prestoniae) 'Donald Wyman' with C. 'Guernsey Cream'. This one was the first combo I planted, and the clematis is too close to the lilac so it grows up too much to the inside of the shrub, but I like the combination.

An unnamed bell hybrid on blue spruce and Ilex verticilata (winterberry holly). This is a big vine, so though it is planted between the two, it wanders all over both of them.

I've learned that shrub-clem combos work best for longest if I take half of the published shrub width and then add a couple of feet and plant the clematis there. Otherwise the clematis ends up more inside the shrub than on it like the 'Guernsey Cream' above. Initially I provide the clematis an inexpensive support such as bamboo, and in a couple of years the clematis will grow up into the shrub on its own. Rooguchi may need a bit of guidance since it doesn't cling on its own.

Thank you Babs! This is really good, clear information! I love the pics! I just bought Rooguchi'. I will look for a n appropriate spot!This is my first bell shaped clematis!

'mcgowan', I am sure you will very much enjoy this clematis. Just realize it is very robust.